Super Water Resistant
by starshards
Summary: Rei finally finds the time to ask Kai a question that has tormented him from the moment that they met. In usual form, Kai does not choose to answer, so Rei must do some detective work if he is to ever put his mind at rest. [KaRe]


My first update under the new name of Shin Rigel.

Yes, it is I- **shinigami tenshi **-heroic pose- no... never heard of me...? Ah well... -deflates-.

A drabble inspired by Michael Stipe of REM, which came to me as Donya and I walked back through the streets of Cardiff (not dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions –mad laugh-).

Do not own ID or Beyblade or Gillette… obviously .–laugh laugh-

Also, thanks to Roppie Rei who contributed (unknowingly) to the source of Rei's punishment.

* * *

It was a question that had plagued Rei's mind for a long time, though due to its lack of any real importance, it had really just flitted around in his mind, forgotten moments later when something more constructive came up.

However, on one seemingly random day, when the heavens opened above them and sent Team BBA running for the hotel to escape the sudden and rather violent downpour, the question came back to poke at the coal haired teen.

Thrust into a position of suddenly having nothing to do, and, given the circumstances of having to stand next to the source of his annoying little quandary in the lift and again as they moved towards their shared hotel suite, Rei finally snapped.

"Kai, how do you get those triangle things off?" He asked as soon as they entered the room.

Kai stopped in his march towards his bedroom and spun around looking slightly bemused- or at least as bemused as he would allow himself to look. "Huh?"

"How do you get those triangle things off?" Rei repeated.

Kai's bemusement faded into mild confusion. "Why?" He asked cautiously.

Rei shrugged and frowned lightly. "Well I didn't think that you wanted me to ask you in front of everyone, so I waited until we went to our suites." Rei explained.

"Not _why now_, you…" Kai stopped some insult or another spilling from his mouth and re-collected himself. "I meant, why on _Earth_ do you want to know?" He asked, somewhat calmer.

"Oh, well, I've wondered for ages and I-"

"You've wondered for ages?" Kai cut in, his face set in a rare incredulous expression. "Let me get this straight. You sit around wondering about my face paint?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "Do you really get _that_ bored?"

Rei considered this. "Yes. So anyway, I've wondered for ages," he continued- much to Kai's amusement, "how is it that they don't come off in water? I mean, it was a torrential downpour out there and the triangle thingy's are still there."

"…triangle thingy's?" Kai asked, now openly amused.

"Yes. So how do you get them off?" Rei persisted.

Kai smirked. "I don't."

Rei rolled his eyes. "No, really."

Kai nodded, still smirking. "Really. They don't come off; they were tattooed onto me when I was a small child." He replied, deepening his voice to sound more mysterious.

"Kai, I've blatantly seen you sleeping without them on. Now come on! Tell me!"

Detecting the whiny note in Rei's voice, Kai deemed playtime to be over and turned back to face his bedroom. "Why should I?" He said offhandedly as he began to resume his original quest for fresh clothes.

"Please!"

"No." Kai said simply as he moved into his room and shut the door behind him.

Unfortunately, while the matter seemed settled in Kai's opinion, one of the three things that Rei had inherited from the cat-likeness his people were renowned for- asides from his eyes and fangs- was his curiosity. And when Rei's curiosity was piqued and not sated, he grew frustrated.

And so, a simple and naïve question about his team captain's choice of style became his important task for the day. After all, it wasn't like he had anything better to do.

Ready to plunge deep into thought, Rei sat down on the spot where he stood and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. Distantly he noticed the sound of a shower turning on.

He had to formulate a plan. It seemed that simply asking Kai had not boded the results that he desired. Annoying Kai wouldn't work. If he could put up with Max and Takao's antics (barely) he could put up with Rei's pathetic attempts. So then, all he had left was to go undercover.

But… Rei was respectful. He was a noble and kind soul who always put others before him… would he really impede upon another's privacy, just to satisfy some primal urge to know the truth? Not only that, but was he _really_ going to trample over the secrets of a boy that he respected and knew valued his privacy.

The door in front of him opened, revealing Kai in fresh, dry clothes, his hair flattened and still damp from his shower.

His triangles still in place.

As Rei's fingers clenched, his thoughts whirling about once more, Kai simply stood still, regarding the boy sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him.

After a moment, he dragged his gaze away and shook his head as he headed towards the kitchen. "Weirdo." He muttered.

Rei watched him leave, only half acknowledging the comment. Instead, his thoughts remained fixated on the image of Kai, fresh out of the shower. Kai had been wet. Kai had been under a concentrated stream of water. The triangles had remained.

How? He had not been long enough to re-apply any face paint so… how?

Mind made up, Rei stood. "Kai, I'm taking a shower!" He called.

He heard some grunt or other from the kitchen and, with that acknowledgement, moved stealthily to Kai's room. He opened the door with a near inaudible click and slipped in, thanking whatever authority it was who had the bright idea of putting Kai and himself in the position where they shared a bathroom.

Relying on the skills his childhood had taught him, in epic games of hide and seek, Rei positively glided across the floor without so much as a whisper. Safe in the knowledge that he could bolt for the bathroom door at any moment, should Kai choose to return to his room prematurely, Rei began his scavenger hunt.

After a quick scan of the room, Rei deemed the classic bedside drawers a good place to start. He very much doubted that Kai was inventive enough to come up with another way of stashing away his belongings.

Despite this, Rei sat down on the bed and slid the first draw open with a small amount of trepidation. While he didn't believe that Kai was particularly creative, he had no doubt- experiencing first hand the other boy's training regime- that he was a masochist. For all he knew, the draw was booby trapped, ready to snap his fingers off or something else as gruesome. Kai would probably laugh. Bastard.

A faint scuffle shocked Rei out of his tangential thoughts and he froze in place, his eyes slitting as a shock of adrenaline shot through him, preparing him for flight.

However, after a moment, Rei quite slowly realised that it was himself who had made the noise as he had opened the draw. He silently berated himself for being an idiot before plunging- thankfully not literally- into it.

His cheeks heated up as he sieved through what appeared to be Kai's underwear collection, trying his best not to disturb the neat little bundles of pants as he tried to make his presence as inconspicuous as possible. Of course as his deft fingers searched the undergarments for some clue or other, his mind began to wonder once more.

'_I wonder if he'd notice if I took-'_ Rei promptly quashed that train of thought as crimson streaked across his cheeks and nose. '_No, Rei. Stop being a complete weirdo. And stop thinking so much! Get on with the task at hand!_' He mentally scolded himself, though he acknowledged sitting on Kai's bed, elbow deep in said captain's boxers probably made him look like some kind of demented pervert.

After a few more moments than necessary, Rei glumly realised that the search in this particular drawer was futile and he so he closed it back up. Not before stealing a sock and bundling it into his pocket of course.

"Damn." He muttered softly, thinking harder. Kai wouldn't put paint in his wardrobe. He'd go ballistic if it fell and covered half of his clothes in blue, after all, style seemed to mean a great deal to Kai- a character trait that Rei found deeply strange for someone so anti-social and aloof most of the time.

Not the wardrobe…. not the draw… not the bath—

Wait! The bathroom! Of _course_!

It was the least messy place to clean up spillage and provided a large mirror. Additionally, Rei had noticed that Kai only appeared without his blue triangles when he had visited the bathroom first.

With that inspiration, Rei was up and dashing for the door that lead to the room that could very well hold his answer. Upon entering, he breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. At least here he was free to take as much time as he wanted. This was _his_ bathroom too.

And so, he set about investigating the mirrored medicine cabinet, pushing aside the numerous jars and pots of substances that hotels of that class were required to provide. There were thankfully few items on the top shelf and the fact that he could barely reach convinced him further that that would be exactly the place Kai could hide his secret without threat of being found out. Rei scowled at that. He'd show Kai Hiwatari! How dare he underestimate Rei's determination?

However, as his exploration of the top shelf wore on, he quickly grew more frustrated. Thus far he had found only aspirin and other household drugs that were- as the law dictated- so placed to be out of the reach of children (and apparently, almost out of the reach of small Chinese boys, Rei thought in annoyance). When he was about to give up, his searching fingers stumbled across what appeared to be a squeezy tube. Spurred on by the assurance that this was not yet more drugs, Rei excitedly drew it down and began to read the label.

'_I.D Sensation Warming Lub_— _Good Lord!'_

Rei paled and then turned a glorious shade of red so fast it was almost simultaneous. With almost as much speed, he placed the tube back into its original place as if it were a hot ember. He was strangely thankful though, to see that it remained un-opened.

Still blushing, Rei decided to leave that cabinet and pulled the toilet cover down, sitting upon it, partially to think on what to do next, partially to calm his blushing fit down.

And then, inspiration hit him.

With a sudden grin, Rei launched himself off the toilet and spun around, dropping to his knees. With a little hesitance (mostly at the possibility that he could have a spider running up his arm at any moment, due to the fact that he had forgotten to put the lights on and so, couldn't see into the little niche) he reached behind the small space between the toilet and the wall, feeling around.

Almost immediately his hand hit a tub. With a victorious crow he pulled it out and inspected the label. '_Super_ _Water Resistant… so _that's _why it never comes off in the rain.' _Rei thought excitedly. Setting the body paint aside, Rei reached in once again and found what seemed to be a bottle. This he inspected too.

His eyes lit up and his grin grew devious. With a small chuckle, he was on his feet once again and strolling towards the other door at the opposite end of the bathroom that lead his bedroom. He moved through his room and into the living area before slinking into the kitchen.

Kai eyed him suspiciously as he entered the kitchen, and dropped his toast when he saw the smug little grin that was planted all over Rei's lips.

"I thought you were taking a shower." Kai stated guardedly.

Rei's grin widened, "I changed my mind."

Kai stared at him, his gaze almost imperceptivity flickering to the hand that Rei had loosely behind his back. "What have you got in your hand?" His tone was demanding, but his eyes seemed to show a more than a little worry.

Rei tried to look innocent and failed. "Oh this?" He bought it hand to his front and began to toss the bottle up and down playfully. "I just dropped something behind the toilet and I found it when I reached to get it."

Kai glared at him. "You dropped something?" He replied, sounding wholly disbelieving.

Rei ignored the comment and continued his game of one handed catch. "I'm sure that the guy's'll _love_ to hear that their big, bad captain uses rose-scented, make up remover." Rei beamed.

"What do you want, Kon?" Kai growled dangerously.

Rei considered this. It was all just a game to him, but maybe he could turn this to his advantage. "A deal." He shot back, still grinning. Kai continued to glare, urging him to continue. "How about..." Rei thought for a moment. "How about you give us the day off and you come food shopping with me?" That sounded fair to Rei, after all. He _hated_ that he usually got landed with the dull and difficult task. Taking Kai would be not only fun, but he would also enjoy the company.

"No deal." Kai replied, as he stood up from his abandoned toast and swept out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.

Rei chuckled to himself and set the bottle down as he moved to make himself a cup of tea. While it had been fun to ruffle Kai's –proverbial- feathers, there was no way he'd really tell anyone else what he had discovered. He was nowhere _near_ that cruel. No. Once Kai got back, he would apologise and leave this little incident at the back of his mind to call upon when he needed a good laugh.

He sat down and flicked through the paper left there for a few minutes, sipping at his tea.

He was on about page twenty two when the door swung open once more. Rei lifted his mug to his lips to hide his smile, an apology hovering on the tip of his tongue as he lifted his gaze.

…Only to have it die when he was confronted by a smirking Kai.

… With his hand behind his back.

Rei gulped and asked far more timidly than Kai had; "W-what's that in your hand, Kai?"

Kai shrugged. "_This_? Oh just something that I found when I accidentally dropped Dranzer in your bedside table draw." He replied conversationally.

Rei felt the colour drain from his face. "What?"

Kai drew whatever item it was from behind his back and bought it up to face level. Rei looked horrified. "You know, I thought that _I_ was slightly feminine but _really, _Rei… a '_Ladyshave_'?" His smirk grew more evil as Rei looked mortified.

Knowing what he must do, Rei allowed Kai his win. "What do you want, K-kai?"

"A deal." Kai replied, mirroring Rei's earlier comment.

Fairly sure that dealing with Kai may very well include selling his soul to the devil, Rei launched himself out of his seat and lunged at the pink razor in Kai's hands. Kai, however, reacted faster than Rei and easily moved the blade higher and out of Rei's reach.

Rei growled at Kai's smug expression and blushed, feeling ridiculous as he made a feeble attempt to jump with his lack of leverage, and snatch the razor back. Kai quickly moved his left hand, catching Rei's wrist as he jumped and drew it back to his left hand side, leaving Rei half dangling in the air, and half on his tip toes.

Kai continued to smirk. "What a predicament you are in, Rei."

Rei frowned and made to reply hotly when Kai's grip on his wrist yanked him forwards, his lips handily landing upon Kai's. It took him a moment to realise that Kai was applying soft pressure to his mouth and he hung there limply, eyes wide, and cheeks hot as Kai planted an all too brief kiss upon his lips.

When Kai pulled back he smirked again. "I won't tell if you won't." He winked seductively as he dropped the still shocked Chinese boy, though whether he was referring to the embarrassing items or the kiss, Rei could not be sure.

Rei was about to ask, but Kai was already gone.

And after a short while of standing in a daze, Rei began to grin. Apparently there was a new game. Only too pleased to play, Rei snuck off to see what else of Kai's he could find.

* * *

Not particulaly long, but long compared to my eight- line long exciting pr0n fic. Ah, it was genius... 

Anyhow, I'll leave you to scour the site for more KaRe. I wish you the best of luck.

-does the same herself-


End file.
